Artemis' 640-pound catch holds up for Big Rock titleBy Tommy Braswell (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Sunday, June 15, 2008
DYLAN RAY The crew of Artemis, including Capt. David Copleston, left of the fish, and angler Darryl Reyna, right of the fish, pose with their 640-pound monster blue marlin. The boat owned by Charleston businessman, John Darby, held on to win the 50th Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament fished out of Morehead City, N.C. Being on pins and needles doesn't begin to describe the emotional state the crew of the Artemis was in Saturday. Owner John Darby and his crew from Charleston were in the driver's seat for a $708,400 payday in the 50th Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament being fished out of Morehead City. But they knew their victory wasn't certain with 79 boats, including four former Big Rock champions, still fishing. Finally, at 2:28 p.m., they were able to pop the champagne and celebrate when Peggy - the last boat still hooked up - reported it had released its blue marlin. Fishing was over for the day, no one was bringing a billfish to the scales and the 640-pound blue marlin caught late Monday by Artemis gave Charleston fishermen their second straight win in the East Coast's most prestigious billfish tournament. There were 16 billfish releases Saturday, including nine blue marlin. Artemis — named after the Greek goddess of the hunt — had one of the blue marlin releases and another big blue marlin briefly hooked. "It was bigger than the 640-pound blue marlin we had," Darby said. "It wasn't a long fight, but what worried us was that (a bigger fish) was out there. "We didn't have a lot of action the rest of the day. We had the champagne ready to pop, but somebody was still hooked up. We waited, and you could have heard a pin drop in the Artemis. When we got word (the last fish was released), we all jumped in the water." The crew on Monday's 640-pound fish included Darby, Capt. Bucky Copleston (who celebrated his 34th birthday Saturday), angler Darryl Reyna, J.C. Darby, Eric Burn, Robbie Freeman, Jim Bryan and Michael Provow. Several other friends and family members also fished with the crew later in the week. Of the winning fish, Darby said: "We were in the right place at the right time. We had boats all around us, then all but two went in different directions. We both hooked up." The other boat fishing next to Artemis on Monday was Melina, which finished second with a 555.5-pound blue marlin. Third went to Lady Lou V with a 553.5-pound blue marlin caught Wednesday. The total purse for this year's Big Rock tournament was $1,854,575, with 176 boats fishing. This was the second straight year a Charleston boat has prevailed in the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament and fourth time in nine years a Charleston boat has finished first. Last year, BakBar, owned by Neal Baker and Billy Barnwell, earned $800,839 for a 613-pound blue marlin. The tournament record is an 831-pound blue marlin caught in 2000 by Summertime Blues, owned by Ron Wallschlager of Kiawah Island. Darby said there was a mob of well-wishers awaiting them when they returned to the dock Saturday, including lots of friends and family members from Charleston. Last year was the first full year of fishing for the Artemis, a 50-foot custom express boat built by Sea Island Boatworks of Charleston. The crew ended up winning the 2007 South Carolina Governor's Cup Billfishing Series, catching three blue marlin on the final day of the Bohicket Billfish Tournament to surge into first place. Even that, though, couldn't top the feeling of winning at Big Rock. "This is the 50th anniversary, and there's so much tradition," Darby said. "The people here in North Carolina, some of them are coming up and wanting their pictures taken with the boat. They've been so generous. "This is as exciting as winning the Governor's Cup, if not more. The money will be gone, but the trophy will always be there." Contact Tommy Braswell at braswell@postandcourier.com or 937-5591. |
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Comments
This article has 4 comment(s)
Posted by CedarPosts on June 15, 2008 at 9:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm glad the Post and Courier has a photo with this story. Without the photo a 640 pound Blue Marlina is just a fish story.
Congrats to Artmeis
The Crew of Southern Comfort
www.motoryachtsoutherncomfort.com
Posted by PennyGirl on June 15, 2008 at 11:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What a shame to see that magnificent fish hanging from a hook. It must have fought like the incredible heavyweight it is...isn't there a way to release it after the catch?
Posted by CedarPosts on June 15, 2008 at 3:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Penny Girl,
Good question! During the Big Rock as with all Billfish tournaments 99% of the Billfish caught are released. Only those over 400 pounds are boated.
The days where every angler had a billfish mounted (often under 100 pounds) in his/her office are long gone. While sportfishing has increased in popularity the stress of over fishing has required all sportsmen and women to become conservationists.
Through orginzations like The Billfish Foundation (www.billfish.org) crews like Artemis work to conserve and enhance billfish populations around the world.
The catch and release program is so popular that in many tournament the prize money offered for fish released is more than those kept.
The Artemis catch was donated to NC University Center for Marine Science and Technology to help understand our world's oceans and how fishing effects our most treasured resource.
Posted by scnative4ever on June 16, 2008 at 1:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It's all about greed, the almighty dollar PennyGirl. They have the option to let it go and get the tag points. They get more points to bring it in dead. I have fished offshore and have released all billfish. There is no reason for them to bring this fish back to the dock. The artimus, john darby, captain copelston and crew should be ashamed of themselves. They are no sportsman. They are businessmen making money at the expense of the life of this great fish. there is no reason to bring these fish in for two more reasons. Taxidermist make look a like replicas now and the fish is not good to eat. I'm not a PETA fan but this should be right up there alley to get the killing of these fish out of tournament scoring. I guess donating for research purposes is acceptable excuse that makes all them feel good. What a bunch of BS.